It's too bad that rumors and gossip are like flowing water -- they'll find their way through the crevices around your fingertips, finally carving themselves into my brain,

...into my memories.

I actually was not happy.

back up

My mother and stepfather both treated me very well. But in the end, I could never feel that I was fully a part of this family.

Adults would move to cover my ears.

In the eyes of the other islanders, I was always "that pitiful child".

All sorts of comments would make their way to my ears. From the beginning, I had just endured it, pretending as if I didn't hear.

But as time went on, This type of talk took up more and more of my space, constricting me, making me unable to breathe.